The Football Forecast

All I want for Christmas… Day 6

Welcome, a very merry TFFmas from all of us here at the blog. As we head into the holiday season, there is plenty to look forward to both on the pitch and off it and we are looking forward to the month ahead. This December we will be running the 25 Days of TFFmas, every day up until the big day we will be publishing Christmas wishlists from members of our team for what they would like their club to get for Christmas.

In this sixth edition, we spoke to TFF Manager Danny Cook about the state of Norwich City and what they need for Christmas to help their promotion charge.

Championship promotion contenders Norwich City are looking to bounce back at the first time of asking, something that has become a regular occurrence to many Canary fans. Relegated in 19th place last season, Norwich haven’t been able to adjust to Premier League football well enough to stop them becoming a so-called ‘yo-yo’ team. The start of the season went very well for them, but recent results haven’t favoured them, causing manager Alex Neil to be under great pressure in the helm, despite being the man to take them up two seasons ago. The 10 games in September and November saw then pick up just 10 points from a possible 30, the type of form that would easily see them drop out of contention for promotion.

In other competitions, the fans were hopeful of a long cup run and, after seeing the draw for the round of 16, felt like they could push on and keep their EFL Cup run alive. However, they were beaten on penalties by Leeds United and dumped out the competition (they also lost to them in the league 3-2 less than two weeks later). Their under 23s are doing much better, coming top of their EFL Trophy group, beating Peterborough 6-1, Barnet 5-0 and Milton Keynes Dons 4-1 in the process. Although, they’ve only been rewarded with a trip from Swansea under 23s, a cracking tie that I’m sure will attract tens of fans.

“Recent form shows us declining & sliding down the league. It is hard for clubs to bounce back from relegation and the fear is that if we can’t go up this season we may see some wholesale changes. Assuming it’s with the current squad, we’d keep a reasonable quality of players and we would obviously receive a share of the television money which could be reinvested into other aspects of the club, including players. The aim is to become an established Premier League club rather than a yoyo team.”

“This is not an immediate problem but the club had the second highest capacity rate in the Premier League last season only behind West Ham. This could potentially limit match day revenue as the club can only accommodate a certain number of spectators. It could increase Matchday revenue and fans have been speaking about this for a while. There is a potential that the club could receive less as the supply could potentially outweigh the demand resulting in lower ticket prices and a lower capacity ratio and therefore are less financially effective on matchdays.”

“Wes Hoolahan has been a fantastic servant to the club and continues to be a magnificent player. When he does decide to bring an end to his Norwich career, myself and many fans believe that it’s only fitting that he gets the testimonial he deserves. It would be a perfect send off for a legendary player, but hopefully, that won’t be anytime soon.”

After playing 300 games for Norwich since he signed back in 2008, he’s scored and assisted just under 120 goals within his eight-year stint, very deserving of a testimonial. Norwich is also the place that he cemented his place as a Republic of Ireland international, gaining 37 caps and scoring three goals in the process, something he could’ve only dreamed of when he first signed for the club.

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Thank you to Danny Cook for contributing today, we’ll see you tomorrow for another member and another wishlist!